Laundry Room Intrigue
by AnaElise
Summary: First encounters with the laundry room can be pretty intimidating but as long as there’s a big strong red ranger to save you, you have nothing to worry about. SkySyd


Disclaimer: Just that, I'm "dis-claiming" the Power Ranger. I don't own them.

Quick Rating Note: in all honesty, I don't think there's anything "T" about this. I am of the opinion that it's very innocent; however there is one mildly suggestive part in it so, just to be safe, I rated it "T"

* * *

It wasn't fair!

Nothing was going her way.

And Sydney Drew always had her way.

What higher being of power had suddenly turned against her?

She hadn't done anything wrong!

She worked for the greater good for God's sake!

'Seeking justice and defending the innocent' and all that.

She just wanted the little things after all!

Was it too much to ask for her alarm clock to work in the morning? For just a _few minutes_ to put on some make up? To have training be pushed back to mid afternoon? For her hairdresser to know her correct color? Her new shoes to be in the right size? Her manicure to last more than a few hours without chipping? For her massive crush to see her as more then a comrade or partner?

But NO!

The Gods have decided to pit against her!

Maybe they were jealous or something. But it wasn't her fault she was pretty!

It just wasn't fair!

And NOW, to top it all off, the cadet she usually paid to do her laundry was at a bar mitzfah in Bora Bora, so she was **forced** to do her laundry HERSELF!

Honestly!

So here she was, staring down the vile machine trying to figure out how to get the machine to open so she could put her clothes inside.

She was near tears before her Godsend appeared in standard issue SPD uniform with red trim signifying his red ranger status.

"The surprises never cease," Sky grinned as he placed his empty laundry basket on top of one of the machines. "You're the last person I would have ever expected to see down here. Did you loose a bet?"

Sydney huffed "No, _Cadet Tate_, I did not loose a bet. I merely could not find anyone that was willing to do my laundry, so now I'm stuck figuring out how to do it myself!"

Sky chuckled and momentarily stopped taking his own clothes out of the dryer. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you have no idea how to do your own laundry."

That remark earned a death glare from the spunky pink ranger but no retort, as she quietly went back to staring down the inanimate machine that seemed to be mocking her for every second she couldn't decipher its many buttons and dials.

How was it that she could competently maneuver a multi-trillion dollar megazord and yet this common household appliance was a complete mystery to her?

It was just so unfair!

Sky was comfortable just staring at her a few moments before he went back to emptying his clothes out of the dryer. After he had finished he, once again, glanced over at the despairing Sydney. He sighed and made his way over to her.

"'Bout time, I almost had to go over and beg you to help me."

With a roll of his eyes Sky began his elaborate explanation of the ins and outs of the washing machine… beginning with where the door was located.

After a good twenty minutes of constant bickering all of Sydney's clothes were placed in the right washing machines, with respective colors, with the correct amount of soap and the right water temperature.

"What do we do now?"

Sky cracked a rare smile and rolled his eyes again. "Well, now you wait until the clothes are done so you can put them in the dryer." At her confused look he added, "I'll explain that when the time comes."

Sydney seemed content with this answer and skipped over to where Sky was now folding the clothes that he had taken out of the dryer before coming to Sydney's rescue.

She glanced at his pile of folded close and regarded him with a look of curiosity.

Sky stopped what he was doing and met her curious face with a look of his own.

"May I ask what you're looking at, Sydney?"

Sydney cocked her head to the side just a bit. "Do you know that none of your socks match?"

"Oh… well… you see…" Sky suddenly seemed particularly nervous and suddenly started fumbling with the paired socks. "What do you know? Look at the time, I'm scheduled for night duty in a couple of minutes…"

Syd didn't bother to hide her shocked expression as Sky suddenly started throwing his clothes randomly into the laundry basket. In a matter of seconds he had grabbed the basket and was quickly heading for the door. Just as he reached the door, however, Sydney had a sudden epiphany.

"You're color blind aren't you?"

That stopped him in his tracks.

Sydney heard his sigh as he slowly turned around to face her. He looked almost dejected as he made the walk back to her and placed the laundry basket back on top of the dryer.

"I'm not completely color blind, I just can't tell the difference between dark colors, blacks, blues, greens, dark purples, sometimes brown."

Sydney tried, unsuccessfully, to stifle a giggle. Seeing Sky glare at her only made her smile brighter.

"Sky, a lot of people are color blind, it's nothing to be ashamed about—"

"It's a weakness, Syd! A weakness that could one day put me or someone else in jeopardy!"

"I hardly think that not being able to sort socks will be fatal—"

"This isn't funny Sydney!" He turned to face her in that moment, his eyes burning in anger. Anger directed at her.

Her expression softened and she had the decency to look ashamed.

Sky immediately calmed. He hadn't meant to yell at her. He just needed her to understand.

"I was on a mission with Dru, one of our first real missions together. A monster had placed a bomb on the Hudson building," Sky gave a sad laugh, "it was exactly like those old action movies, where the hero has to deactivate the bomb by cutting one of the colored wires. Dru was holding off the monster and Kat was yelling in my ear piece 'Cut the black wire, Sky cut it!' I kept looking at it, and I could tell there was a yellow and red wire but then there were three others and they all looked black to me. Dru finally broke away from the monster and came and cut the right one with seconds to spare, but what if he hadn't been there? What if it had only been me up there? Hundreds of people could have been hurt, Syd, and all because of this stupid weakness."

Sky looked to the floor and shook his head.

Sydney really couldn't help it but she smiled. What was it about this man? She had heard many disgruntled cadets complaining about how heartless and emotionless he was, but the truth was he was one of the most passionate and caring people she had ever met. He was so hard on himself so he could always be there for other people, the innocent people. He lived to protect people.

"Sky you'll always have other people you can count on. That's what the team is for, to counteract any weaknesses and combine strengths."

"But what if the team isn't there Sydney? What if I'm on my own?"

Sydney thought about that for a moment. "Well maybe Kat can install something in your visor that can recognize colors and then read it back on the screen for you."

Sky regarded her for a second before shrugging his shoulders. "Not a bad idea, Syd, I'll talk to Kat about it."

Syd smiled and took one of his mismatched pairs of socks apart and began pairing them correctly.

Taking after her example Sky, too, began to take his now wrinkled clothes out of the basket and refolded them until every crease was gone.

To Sydney, it seemed a very intimate moment between them, silently folding laundry together. It just seemed like something couples would do together. She felt honored that Sky trusted her this much to see him this way, although they both blushed when he started folding his unmentionables. Boxer briefs. Sydney blushed a brighter red when she went as far as picturing Sky in his boxer briefs… and only his boxer briefs. But those thoughts were for another time and place entirely. She didn't want to ruin such an intimate and innocent moment with thoughts like that. She wanted it to remain special.

After what seemed like too short a time all the clothes were folded and placed neatly in the laundry basket.

"Thanks Syd, I've never told anyone about being color blind before, but now I'm really glad you know."

Before Sydney even had a chance to respond Sky grabbed his laundry basket, kissed her on the check and was out the door.

Sydney stood, shocked, for a few moments, her hand hovering just over the place where his lips had been only seconds before.

She was startled out of her reverie by the loud beeping of the washing machine. Her clothes were done.

She opened the door and realized to her surprise that her clothes were all wet. So that's what Sky must have meant by the dryer!

Sydney took a look at the drying machine situated right next to the washer and groaned.

More buttons and dials! And where was this new door! It wasn't in the same place as the washing machines door had been!

It just wasn't fair!

* * *

Kind of cheesy I know, but I thought it was cute. Of course, in the long run, my opinion counts for nothing seeing as you all are the ones reading and (hopefully) reviewing. So tell me what you think, good, bad, ugly, cute, cheesy, I want to know!


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